


Chapter 7 : An unexpected companion

by Myril_Chan



Series: DAO [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myril_Chan/pseuds/Myril_Chan
Summary: Where does this rangers’s wolf come from ? From a gaming point of view : it doesn’t matter.But I’m a roleplay nerd so I had to make up a story that you make it tangible.My first idea was to imagine a real wolf. But I came up with this idea strongly inspired by Drizzt Do’Urden and his panther Guenhwyvar.....The idea behind my DAO serie is to write down what I imagine when I played the game to enrich my experience, especially concerning the relationships between the characters & especially my Mahariel/Alistair romance which happened to be way more complex that it seemed. So the main plot will basically be the real one, I just added some small side plots when needed.This serie is part of my whole fanfic which aims to tell the story of Alistair & warden from their childhood to DAI and maybe further...Comment & (constructive) critics are highly welcome to help me improve my writting.If you have a fanfic on the same themes : please let me know !
Relationships: Alistair/Female Mahariel (Dragon Age)
Series: DAO [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964107





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Drizzt Do'Urden & Guenhwyvar](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/698356) by R.A. Salvatore. 



Brecilian forest - around the dalish camp 

It was with a beating heart that Ymlaïs inserted the key into the chest. After the small click was heard, she hesitated for a moment. What exactly was she hoping to find? She didn’t know, but for all those years, it was the only legacy she got from her real parents, so it _had_ to be important. She lifted the lid and found…. A necklace? He was beautiful and of very good quality, but why waiting all these years to give her a necklace, no matter how beautiful?

She observed it closer. It was made up of hundreds of wooden beads, each curved into the shape of an animal. Deer, hawks, wolves and rabbits chased each other across its lenght. In its center was a white and iridescent stone with changing reflections. Touching it, she felt a slight pulsation, an indefinable vibration. She looked at the stone from all angles but found nothing special on it. She breathed a sigh of disappointment.

"Is something wrong?" asked Fenarel as he approached.  
“No, it’s fine. There was a necklace in the chest. I think it belonged to my mother.”  
“It’s gorgeous! It’s a beautiful gift!”

“Yes…Yes it’s true.” She gave a grateful smile to her friend and tied the necklace around her neck.  
“There’s a piece of paper in the chest.” Fenarel observed.

Hopefull, Ymlaïs grabed it and red the inscription written in it: " _Ma'Halani_. It’s elvish: it means _help_ or _help me_."  
"What does that mean?

"I have no idea….” She had expected to find answers in this chest but she cleary found only questions. She stuffed the paper in her pocket. This was no time to solve family riddles anyway.  
"Come on, let’s go see Merrill, we have to find Tamlen as soon as possible."


	2. Chapter 2

«This is really weird, the forest is too quiet»  
Despite their eagerness to find Tamlen, the three friends had spontaneously slowed down their pace due to the disturbing atmosphere in the woods. They heard a noise ahead. The three friends jumped at once and stood ready to attack: Ymlaïs notched an arrow, Merrill connected to the energy of the veil, and Fenarel stood guard.

But what came out of the thickets nailed them to the spot. A being of small size and humanoid shape was advancing towards them. Its hairless skull and its armor made of different pieces loosely assembled showed a decrepit and brownish skin. His bloodshot gaze was vicious, and his lip-less mouth opened with a cruel smile.

It was the most perverted creature they had ever seen. Beyond its hideous appearance, it exuded evil. Its hatchet looked old and chipped but remained a threat and it clearly intended to use it against them. Being the first to react, Ymlaïs drew an arrow, which slipped into the throat of the monster, that gurgled and stopped for a moment, before breaking the arrow and resuming its advance. Ymlaïs intervention had the advantage of awakening Merrill and Fenarel, and when her second arrow flew in the direction of the creature’s skull, it was followed by a projectile of magical energy that hit it in the chest. Fenarel rushed to behead the monster with a sword stroke.

Right after he did so, he backed away with a frightened cry when another creature, similar to the first but the size of a man, appeared, brandishing a jagged sword over its head.  
Fenarel retreated but stumbled and fell to the ground. Before the creature could shoot down its weapon, an arrow slid through the air and stuck into its wrist. The young elf took the opportunity to escape but the monster pursued him

"Fenarel, get down!" cried Merrill.  
He complied and a stream of flames came to pick up the creature in its momentum. As soon as the flames dissipated, the monster attempted another attack but was stopped by a dagger which he received in the heart, Fenarel’s blade sinking into his belly at the same time.

As Merrill kept her eyes on the bodies of the creatures, she asked, “what were those things? were those darkspawn?"

« That would make sense.” answered Ymlaïs 

“I've never seen anything like them ! You could smell the evil on them. Where did they come from ? Were they here before ? » 

“Maybe they followed the Grey Warden here. “

“Or he followed them. But why would they come here ? And why would he ? Well we'll find soon enough. Let's hope we don't find any more of these monsters.” Leaving the monsters out of sight, the young mage looked up at her companion :“Before we go, are you all right ? Were you hurt during the fight?

Ymlaïs shrugged: “I'm fine. Why do you ask ?” 

“You... do look quiet pale, now that Merrill's mentioned it.” Said Fenarel with concern. 

“I'm Fine.” 

“ Well I'll keep an eye on you. You've only recovered from your illness. But let's not think of that now. We should move on.”


	3. Chapter 3

It was strange, Ymlaïs had passed through these ruins a few days earlier with Tamlen but it felt as if the atmosphere had changed. It was already rather sinister before but now added a sensation of corruption. Is it because of the mysterious mirror? Or did it come from inside herself? She did not dare to ask her friends if they felt the same way because she was afraid that the answer would confirm that the harm she was suffering was the cause.

Concerned about finding her friend, she led the group to a path that Tamlen and her had not taken during their first visit.

The door opened onto a large dark room. Why did the elders who lived there not plan a skylight? Perhaps they lit themselves by magic? If these ruins dated from the time of Arlathann, it was conceivable. A squeal could be heard from the back of the room.

"Tamlen?" asked Merrill.  
The crunch increased and multiplied.  
"If this is Tamlen then he has found friends!" said Fenarel, drawing his sword.

“By the Creators,” exclaimed Merrill. “Those are spiders!” Huge spiders, as big as wolves. With their eight legs, they advanced towards them at high speed. The idea of fighting those horrible creatures hand-to-hand repulsed Ymlaïs who had nothing to protect herself from the chelicers of the giant animals. She stealthy retreated into a corner of the room to use her bow when she ran into something sticky.

Turning around she was even more entangled in the obstacle and recognized with fright a spiderweb. The canvas was huge and sticky: the more Ymlaïs struggled to reach her dagger, the more she was engulfed and soon totally paralyzed. Forcing herself to calm down, she stopped all movement to think of a way out of this ambush when she felt a vibration coming from the ceiling that was reflected in the canvas. Looking up, she saw with horror a huge spider heading towards her.

Helpless, she shouted to her companions : “Help! Merrill! Fenarel.” But the two elves were busy fighting the rest of the spiders. Panicked, she watched the monstrous creature approach inexorably without being able to do anything but call for help. Help. The necklace and the paper that accompanied it came back to his memory. As the spider was about to plunge its venomous hooks into her victim, she cried out in despair: « _Ma'Halani !_ ».

The necklace vibrated and emitted a strange light, then a shape gushed from the stone and rushed to the spider. Ymlaïs heard a concert of grunts and screeching mingled and soon the spider returned to the dark corners from which it had sprung, leaving traces of blood behind.

A wolf: the shape that sprang from the necklace and made the spider run away was a wolf. He held a paw in his mouth that was torn from the spider. A cry of pain from Merrill drew Ymlaïs' attention to her companions who were still fighting against two enemies. Immediately the wolf rushed to help them and leaped upon one of the arachnids, turned it over and plowed its bare belly with his paws. The creature emitted whispers of pain as its opponent disemboweled it.

Merrill finished the other spider with a flame blast and Fenarel stood guard between her and the wolf. But the latter did not pretend to attack them and undertook to lick his paws covered with spider blood.

Ymlaïs called Fenarel who skirted the wolf to come and deliver her. The operation took several minutes and the wolf had yet threatened none of the companions.  
'What a strange animal.' said Fenarel. 'Where did he come from?

"From my necklace, I think." Ymlaïs replied.  
"The one from the chest, your mother’s?"

“I’d like to examine it if you allow it.” asked Merrill. She murmured a spell and the stone was surrounded by an orange aura. “Hmm, the stone is undoubtedly magical. Would this creature come from the veil? A sort of spirit. But it seems so real…”

Ymlaïs approached the wolf softly and caressed his fur. He seemed to enjoy it. She laughed : “ He _is_ real. And obedient with that."  
"But how is that possible?" asked Merrill. "I have never seen such magic at work."

“Ashalle said my father was the former keeper of the clan. Maybe he enchanted this stone and gave it to my mother. To offer her a protector.”  
“Or he had this stone that may have been in your family for generations. I have never heard of such magic, it may be very old. When we get back to the camp, we’ll have to talk to the keeper about it.”

"In the meantime," said Ymlaïs, who was scratching the animal’s neck, "I’ll keep you. Anyway, I don’t know how to get you back where you came from.”  
"And how did you get him out?" asked Fenarel.  
The formula written on the paper : " _Ma'Halani_ " apparently summonnes it.

“Is that his name?”  
“Uh … I don’t think s…. Well, now that you say it, yes! _Halani_ , do you like it?” she said to the wolf. “After all what you did was coming to my rescue when I needed help.”


	4. Chapter 4

When they left the cave in the company of the grey warden, the wolf seemed to light up for a moment and disappeared suddenly. The pulse in the necklace had resumed but very weakly.  
"What happened?" asked Fenarel.  
"I think he’s back in the necklace." Ymlaïs replied.  
“The connection to the veil must weaken over time.” said Merrill.  
"Do you think you could summon him again?" said Fenarel.  
“I don’t know. I hope so.”

This was the true gift of her mother: a protector, a guardian who would watch over her. Clutching the stone of the necklace in her hand, she felt the pulsation like a beating heart. She felt that her parents were watching over her from the afterlife. Despite the uneasy prospect of returning to the camp without any news of Tamlen, and the gloomy comments creepy of the grey warden about the sickness she had contracted, the reassuring thought came to her that whatever happened, she would never be alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> INSPIRATIONS  
> Where does this rangers’s wolf come from ? From a gaming point of view : it doesn’t matter. But I’m a roleplay nerd so I had to make up a story that would make it tangible.  
> My first idea was to imagine a real wolf. But I came up with this idea strongly inspired by Drizzt Do’Urden and his panther Guenhwyvar. “The black panther resided on the Astral Plane. She was summoned to the Prime Material Plane by the use of an onyx “ (https://othya.fandom.com/wiki/Guenhwyvar).  
> Apart from the nice reference to one of my favorite fantasy character, it explained a lot :  
> \- Why the animal is summoned  
> \- Why it disappears after a while  
> \- While you can wander in the streets of Denerim without any weird gaze and having a wolf anytime you need at your side.  
> \- Why you can’t f*****g summon the animal while you’re in the fade.  
> \- Why it would be resistant to the darkspawn taint.  
> As opposed to the drow, I turned the (black) onyx into (white) moonstone.  
> I got the idea to insert this stone in the “family necklace” that becomes really useful here, turns into an essential accessory for my ranger and gives more value to the family heritage that is passed on to her. It also gives the impression that her special relationship to animals would perhaps come from her family .  
> As Cole is a spirit incarnated in the flesh, Halani is a sort of spirit that comes to the real world when summoned. 
> 
> I also had to invent a story to explain the name. All the animals of my rangers have elvish names: but the panel is not very wide. Initially, I would have liked to call him Greywolf, referring to a Baldur’s Gate character (https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Greywolf). I also thought of White-Fang because I love the famous book written by Jack London. Unluckily, the existing dalish vocabulary does not allow to translate these names.  
>   
> I would love to imagine that ultimately, the stone would enable an experienced ranger to summon every animal curved in the beads : a stealthy rabbit, a flying hawk, a halla as a steed, a strong bear, a venomous spider. It’s not really lore-friendly but maybe I will anyway. ^^… Cause this is so cool !


End file.
